The present invention relates generally to trolling lures that are used in connection with fishing vessels to attract fish to the surface of the water to facilitate a catch, and more particularly to an improved fixed bar dredge having a high-strength tubular core adapted to hold a plurality of spreader bar members extending therethrough in a radial pattern with each spreader bar member disposed in a separate and distinct plane to enhance the strength and support of the spreader bar members in trolling.
Sport fishing in freshwater and saltwater is extremely popular around the world and provides enjoyment and competition to millions of enthusiasts. Essential to sport fishing, artificial lures intended to simulate live bait in their appearance and movement have long been used and are found in a variety of styles, designs and arrangements suitable for casting and trolling. Trolling lures used commonly in offshore fishing are towed on extended lines from a moving boat to draw game fish to a trailing hook using the look and action of the lures in the water as well as the water disturbance they make to attract the game fish and bring them close to the water surface for the catch. A wide variety of these trolling lures can be found rigged both in-line on so-called “daisy chains” and in umbrella-like “spreader” rigs designed to simulate a school of moving baitfish when trolled using an array of artificial lures in the form of strips called teasers bearing fish images that are particularly effective in attracting fresh water stripers and big game fish of all sorts.
Luring dredges are weighted trolling devices that have become increasingly popular in offshore fishing to create the illusion of a tightly packed school of baitfish swimming just beneath the surface of the water. These luring dredges generally comprise a plurality of rigid spreader arms of stainless steel or titanium that extend out in multiple directions from a centralized hub with a series of coupling members called “droppers” along each spreader arm that can accept and engage any number of teaser strips for deployment upon the dredge. One of the most popular types of these luring dredges is a fixed bar dredge having an umbrella-like structure with the spreader arms fixed at one end to the centralized hub and made to extend therefrom in a radial pattern. This type of fixed bar dredge is a relative staple in the gear box of sport fishermen because it is relatively inexpensive yet effective in its trolling deployment. Unfortunately, the structural integrity of these fixed bar dredges have been subject to failure with the spreader bars breaking down and either fracturing at their point of attachment to the centralized hub or just separating therefrom under the pressure of high-speed trolling. While some developments have been made in strengthening the attachments of the spreader bars in these fixed bar dredge structures to reduce their detachment while trolling, there is still a need for further improvements in the design, manufacture and assembly of the fixed bar dredge to ensure its structural integrity and avoid failures of the spreader bars and their attachments while deployed in trolling at increasingly higher speeds.